SENIOR MEMBER

WASHINGTON — The United States provided the Iraqi armed forces with $300 million in donated military equipment in 2014, and over the next two months will deliver six more Abrams tanks and 50 up-armored Humvees at no cost to the Baghdad government, according to information provided by the US Embassy in Baghdad.

The deliveries come on the heels of the announcement that the US had donated 250 mine-resistant, ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraqi and Kurdish forces since late December in a deal that also provided six months of US-provided maintenance for the hulking blast-resistant vehicles.

"The number one threat to the Iraqi security forces are roadside bombs and vehicle-borne bombs," US Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones said in a Tuesday statement. "These MRAP vehicles provide increased ballistic and counter mine protection for Iraqi security forces."

Some of the equipment provided by Washington includes 12,000 sets of body armor, Kevlar helmets, medical kits, counter-IED equipment, vehicle maintenance and sustainment, and tank and helicopter maintenance training. Preparations are also being made to ship 10,000 M16 rifles to the Iraqi Army in the coming weeks.

The multinational coalition against the radical Islamic State has conducted more than 900 airstrikes against targets in Iraq since Aug. 8 at an average daily cost of over $8 million, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.

US MRAPs in Kuwait await shipment to Iraq(Photo: US State Dept.)

That would put the price tag at more than $1.2 billion as of Tuesday.

And it is not only the MRAPs that are being shipped to help protect Iraqi troops from the threat of roadside bombs. US troops stationed in Baghdad, Taji and Al Asad Air Base are training Iraqi security forces in counter-IED tactics, and "the United States is providing Iraq with millions of dollars in equipment to defeat IEDs, booby traps, and homemade bombs," according to a statement by the US Embassy in Baghdad.

NEW RECRUIT

900 Air-strikes conducted since August, and is there any discernible evidence of improvement?
They're shipping these MRAPs from Kuwait, but perhaps they'd be better advised to drive them across the border.

I'm not well-informed on the current situation regarding boots, but aren't the Iraqi police woefully under-equipped and under-trained to deal with war-hardened vets that are in IS ranks? We should be sending them hellfires.

MEMBER

I hope the "$300 million in donated military equipment" won't end up being used against the United States. That's a big investment and how many impoverished or disadvantaged people could have benefited from that amount.

MEMBER

Such a big money, but with the sum of the expenses reserved for the defence of the US which amounts to hundreds of billions, this is just a meager fraction. But again, this is still a huge amount of money that could already feed millions of people in poor countries. Yes, poverty and famine are still prevalent. And what can war do to alleviate these two? At the end of the war, would these two be resolved? Why won't we just all unite to eradicate poverty and ignorance? But is it even possible?

MEMBER

Well only hope the US will not be facing off with these same military equipment in the future in a war. The US has has a history of having its donated weapons used against them in conflicts. The Iraqi army better secure these items and not let the terrorist get a hold of them.